![]() They were tall like the trees of their forests, and broad like the stout beams of their boats, and each man had the strength of ten. All were valiant warriors whose courage had been tried in many battles. About the king and queen were gathered the finest lords of the land. Beside him was his queen, named Hygd, and called the Wise and Fair. Now, for many years Hygelac ruled over his people with a stern but kind hand. Only when an incautious farmer or fisherman had been foully killed by one of them did the lords of Geatsland wage war on the strange inhabitants of the coastal caves and the forest fastnesses. It was not safe to travel in those woods after dark, and the wandering minstrels who went from place to place in the countryside were careful not to be caught in their ghostly depths.īut for the most part the sea-monsters and the forest terrors kept to their own lairs and seldom invaded the more populous districts. In Geatsland were vast forests where loathsome beasts made their homes in the hollow trunks of dead trees and prowled only by night, feeding on sleeping pigs and young rabbits and other innocent animals. The great caves along the coast were inhabited by all manner of evil monsters that lived partly in the sea and partly on the land, huge serpents with scales of brass, that patrolled the coast and devoured fishermen when they could be taken by surprise at their nets. There were other foes too to be dealt with. Like their neighbors the Danes and the Frisians, the Geats were warlike, and for the greater part of every year Hygelac and his warriors were engaged in fierce battles with various tribes who would enter the territory of the Geats to steal cattle and lay waste the fields of grain and burn the farms of his retainers. It was a harsh country, with high mountains and narrow valleys, and it had a long seacoast with many harbors and inlets, and the men who lived there were famous for their bravery, on both sea and land. ONCE on a time in the far north of what is now called Europe, there was a kingdom known as Geatsland, and its ruler was named Hygelac. TELLS something of the youth and early manhood of Beowulf, how he heard of the monster GRENDEL, and of Daneland. ![]() The language is slightly updated for this online version. The following is the Strafford Riggs prose translation of 1933. There is no evidence of a historical Beowulf, but some characters, sites, and events in the poem can be historically verified. Fifty years later, after a long period of prosperity, Beowulf defeats a flame-breathing, steam belching dragon in battle, but is mortally wounded. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland (Götaland in modern Sweden) and later becomes king of the Geats. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is also defeated. The poem is set in Scandinavia, where the mead hall of the Danes has been under attack by the monster Grendel. It is about great feats of someone who sailed for the Daneland to prove his worth by killing monsters. The epos is commonly cited as one of the most important works of Old English literature. It deals with events of the early 500s CE and is believed to have been composed several centuries later by an English poet. It is the earliest European vernacular epic. Beowulf and Wiglaf Beowulf kill the dragon, but Beowulf is mortally wounded.īeowulf is a heroic poem written in England, and set in Scandinavia. PART 3: A fire-breathing dragon ravages Beowulf's land, Geatsland.He grapples with the monster and its mother too, and kills both. PART 2: The young hero goes to Daneland, where a king's mead hall often is ravaged at night by a monster.PART 1 tells something of the youth and early manhood of Beowulf, a prince of the Geats of southern Sweden, and how he heard of the monster GRENDEL, and of Daneland.
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